The 46 new registrations posted to the federal lobby registry between February 5 to February 11 show an American security technology company is gearing up to lobby for federal contracts “for the excise stamping of tobacco and cannabis.”

Based in Lakewood, Colorado, OpSec Security recently signed three consultants from Temple Scott Associates Inc. to help land those contracts: Ryan Singh, Don Moors and Chris Gray. An excise stamp is placed on a product to show that its manufacturer has paid a country’s excise tax.

The three consultants are also registered to lobby in general on Bill C-45, the government’s bill to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana, as well as the federal government’s “proposed approach to the regulation of cannabis.”

The U.S. firm has provided authentication and anti-counterfeit technologies to clients around the world, ranging from governments to financial institutions to major commercial brands. OpSec says it’s “a global leader in government identification and asset protection” and in addition to tax stamps, offers services like personal and vehicle identification and document and banknote security.

Gray and Moors both worked for Liberal MPs in the past.

In recent agriculture and trade registrations:

Fromages La Chaudière Inc., based in Lac Mégantic, Québec has hired Denis Roy of Gestion Jacques & Roy Inc. to chat with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada about its “preparation of a grant application” for the Dairy Processing Investment Fund.

MBM Investment Corporation, aToronto firm located on Bay Street, has signed Joseph Belan of Novatrek Capital GmbH and Don Newman of Ensight to get the firm on the federal government’s radar and “to discuss the China-Canada Free Trade agreement and issues related to the Investment Canada Act.” These two recent registrations bring the investment corporation’s lobbying team to a total of four. The other two consultants are from Ensight / Navigator.

Meanwhile, the Virginia-based Recreational Vehicle Industry Association recently hired Michael Agosti at Dentons Canada LLP to lobby about “harmonization as it pertains to cross boarder trade between Canada and the United States.”

The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Science recently tapped Evan Sweet of Global Public Affairs to chat all things JUNO with Canadian Heritage officials, members of Parliament and the Prime Minister’s Office. The academy wants Sweet to “provide updates on the progress and planning for the 2018 JUNO Week and Awards Show in Vancouver and receive input on how to ensure success.” He will also work to “emphasize the importance of the Canadian music industry and the work (the academy) is doing to promote and preseve (sic) it.” Sweet is the fourth Global consultant to register on behalf of the academy.

Ontario Museum has signed Earnscliffe’s Alicia Adams to have “discussions with government officials with respect to infrastructure funding opportunities” and “cultural policies and programs.” In 2017, the museum received just shy of $1.7 million from the Department of Canadian Heritage, as well as $20,000 from Fisheries and Oceans. That same year, Ontario’s Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport gave the museum nearly $3.3 million.

Meanwhile, another Toronto museum, The Design Exchange, recently brought on Jillian Wilson of Global Public Affairs to help “secure federal government investment in the Design Exchange’s programs and services.” The not-for-profit, which is dedicated to “design excellence and preservation of design heritage,” has three other consultants from Global Public Affairs lobbying on its behalf. The Design Exchange, which opened in 1994, received $16,606.00 from Canadian Heritage in 2016, along with $305,981.00 from the City of Toronto and $248,788.00 from the Ontario government.

On broadcasting, the Broadcast Participation Fund has signed board member Lynne Toupin to discuss “options for the ongoing sustainability” of the fund with officials at Canadian Heritage and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

The National Football League has hired Dentons Canada’s Margot Patterson to lobby the CRTC about “broadcasting distribution regulations, with respect to the distribution of non-Canadian programming services.” Patterson is the first consultant the league has hired to lobby the federal government. NFL Canada’s managing director, David Thomson, is also registered for the purpose of “seeking a policy change regarding the Canadian regulation that proposes to eliminate the practice of simultaneous substitution on the television broadcast of the annual Super Bowl broadcast.”

BlockLAB recently signed Michael Powell and Christian von Donat of Impact Public Affairs to help get “support related to economic diversification and small business support for a data centre” and “telecommunications projects for various communities.” BlockLAB is a subsidiary of the Port of Rotterdam based in Labrador City, NL.

And Canadian Federation of Library Associations hired Michael Hutchison of Impact Global Affairs to”engage Parliamentarians and civil servants in the process of reviewing Canada’s Copyright Act.” The federation is also lobbying for funding in the 2018 federal budget for the creation of a “National Indigenous Association of Archives, Libraries and Cultural Memory.” The group of library associations also want to talk about “reducing barriers to inter-library loans by ensuring adequate funding is maintained for the Library Materials Service” and the establishment of a fund dedicated to upgrading libraries’ digital infrastructure and “the digitization of content and cultural products.”

In recent defence and security registrations:

Two firms appear to be vying for Canadian infrastructure projects abroad and they’ve hired the same consultant to make that happen.

Perimeter Protection Group, based in Salzkotten, Germany, signed Goran Samuel Pesic at David Pratt & Associates to help land “procurement opportunities in support of the Government of Canada’s requirement to provide physical security infrastructure improvements to federal buildings and Missions abroad.”

Vancouver’s Woodfibre LNG Limited signed Michele Cadario at Vanguard Strategy to assist in getting “relief from the steel tariff on the import of highly specialized fabricated modules” it requires to build its LNG plant. Cadario is registered to lobby Finance Canada, Natural Resources Canada and the PMO.

Back in Ottawa, Accelerating Sustainability Events Management Inc. signed Chief Executive Officer Michael Gerbis to seek “funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Transfer Payment Program entitled ‘Climate Change and Clean Air’ for GLOBE 2018: Climate Change Awards.” The company also wants federal funding from an undetermined source for “pre-G7 stakeholder consultation activities.” It received $7,000 from Environment Canada in 2016.

Sparkle Solutions Inc. – a laundry service provider based in Concord, Ont. – has hired Scott Munnoch of Temple Scott Associates Inc. to help the company clinch a government grant under “the Electric Vehicle and Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Deployment Initiative.” Munnoch is registered to lobby MPs and Natural Resources Canada.

In recent health and cannabis registrations:

Non-profit, patient-run Canadians for Fair Access to Medical Marijuana has registered a third lobbyist – Crestview Strategy’s new recruit, Lucas Malinowski – to “advocate for the zero-rated tax status of medical cannabis.”

Related to the Liberal government’s efforts to legalize recreational cannabis, Draeger Safety Canada Ltd hired Michael Mactaggart of Global Public Affairs to chat with officials about Bill C-46 and the “use and application of road side drug testing devices and the practices applied in other jurisdictions. Draeger Safety develops “medical and safety technology” and is based in Mississauga, Ont.

Quebec City’s Medicago Inc. also hired Crestview’s Malinowski to attain partnerships with government and federal funding to “support research, development, and commercialization of vaccines and other medical countermeasures.” Medicago wants to “raise awareness” on Parliament Hill about “the importance of biopharmaceutical platforms to strengthen preparedness against future outbreaks of emerging infectious disease.” The company received nearly $3 million from the Public Health Agency of Canada in 2016.

Meanwhile, Dalton Associates, a provider of psychological services based in Fergus, Ont., has tapped William Norman of the Capital Hill Group because it wants to partner with the federal government to provide mental health services. Norman worked as a legislative assistant in the House of Commons from November 2015 to March 2016.

The Ontario Association of Consultants, Counsellors, Psychometrists and Psychotherapists signed Hunter Domino of Leonard Domino & Associates to lobby MPs and Department of Finance officials about “having HST removed from psychotherapy.”

And the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Society of Canada wants Hill+Knowlton’s Muhammad Ali to land some research dollars to put towards finding a cure for ALS.

Of note:

Constance Lake First Nation in Ontario recruited Michael Gimelshtein and Joshua Albert of The CCS Group to help the community “in securing the support of the federal and provincial governments for the development of a treatment centre.” The two consultants are registered to lobby officials at Health Canada and Indigenous and Northern Affairs.

The Blockchain Association of Canada also signed the duo of Michael Powell and Christian von Donat from Impact Public Affairs to chat about taxation and capital gains issues related to cryptocurrency donations. The association, which is based in Owen Sound, Ont., is also doing “outreach in support of Blockchain technology, potential applications, and opportunities to establish a strong blockchain hub in Canada.”

Finally, the University of Manitoba hired Chris Gray and Duncan Rayner of Temple Scott Associates to lobby about support for research funding, post-secondary education, and “Canada’s international development policies and priorities.” The Temple Scott consultants are registered to communication with MPs, senators, officials at the International Development Research Centre, the PMO and the Privy Council Office.

Monthly communication reports

There were 360 reports posted last week, the majority of which are for communications that occurred in January or early February 2018. Eleven were from September, October and November 2017.

Most active client organizations, based on last week’s filings:

Canadian Seed Trade Association, Executive Director Dave Carey, 36

Dairy Farmers of Nova Scotia, seven board members, 25

Canadian Credit Union Association, President and CEO Martha Durdin, 23